Kamarupi script[5] (Kamrupi script, ancient Assamese script)[4] was the script used in ancient Kamarupa from as early as 5th century to 13th century, from which the modern Assamese script eventually evolved.[6] In the development of the Assamese script, this phase was followed by the medieval and then by the modern Assamese scripts.[7]
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Though the script development was in general agreement with the development in Bengal and Bihar,[8] it had local peculiarities.[9] The angular and calligraphic style of writing prevalent to its west is not found in this development.[10]
The Kamarupi script originated from Gupta script,[11] which in turn developed from Brahmi script. It developed on its own in Kamarupa, till the Nidhanpur copper-plate issued by Bhaskarvarman from his military camp at Karnasubarna, which took on Kutila characteristics.[12] Sometimes, Kamarupi script origins are traced to Kutila script, which is not widely accepted.[13]
The Kamarupa inscriptions were engraved during this development period, and they display the development of this script in this period. The scripts of the 5th-century Umachal and Nagajari-Khanikargaon rock inscriptions are nearly identical to the eastern variety of the Gupta script,[14] which over the centuries evolved into the proto-Assamese script of the 12th-century Kanai-Boroxiboa inscriptions.[15]
S. N. Sarma has observed that the Assamese script pertaining to the period from the 6th century to the twelfth century can be termed as the ancient Kamrupi script. The Kamrupi script took the form of the old Assamese script in the latter period.[4]
In late medieval period, three variations came to be used, Gargaya used around Gargaon, Bamonia, used by Brahmins in preparation of Sanskrit texts and Kaitheli used by the Kayasthas and called Lakhri in Kamrup.[16]
Māmaṇi Raẏachama Goswāmī (1996), Rāmāyaṇa from Gangā to Brahmaputra, p.98 The Gachtal pillar inscription composed in old Assamese script and language, rather Kamrupi dialect, referring to the yavana invasion from Bengal, with the date saka 1284
'The terminology for the various premodern Brahmi-derived scripts is, however, largely unstandardized and typically made up ad hoc, due mainly to the lack of attested indigenous terms for many of them (2.1.1). D. C. Sircar broadly categorizes the stages of development into "Early," "Middle," and "Late Brahmi" periods, corresponding (in northern India) to the third through first centuries B.C., the first century B.C. through third century A.D., and the fourth through sixth centuries A.D., respectively (HEP 113), though others refer to his "Late Brahmi" as "Gupta script".' (Salomon 1998:19) "Around the late sixth century, the so-called Gupta script of northern India evolved into a distinct new script for which the preferred name is Siddhamatrka." (Salomon 1998:39) Assam district gazetteers - Volume 6 (1976), Page 478 "S. N. Sarma has observed that the Assamese script pertaining to the period from the 6th century to the twelfth century can be termed as the ancient Kamrupi script."
"The Assamese script of the period from the fifth to the thirteenth century may be termed as the ancient Assamese script or the Kamarupi script" (Goswami 1983, p. 23) "The Kamarupi script developed into the medieval Assamese script and the latter into the modern Assamese script" (Goswami 1983, p. 27) "The detailed discussion above shows that the broad pattern of the development of writing in Assam was in line with that in Bengal-Bihar." (Bhattacharya 1969:535) "The Assam inscriptions discussed above furnish the documentary evidence of how the eastern version of the north Indian writing style developed in Assam with an admixture of some local peculiarities." (Bhattacharya 1969:537) "The predominantly angular style of writing of the Bengal-Assam copper plates is not to be found in the Assam copper plates; nor is the formal 'calligraphical' style so conspicuous in Bengal-Bihar for a limited period of time represented here." (Bhattacharya 1969:536) "The a, i, ka, ga, na, ta, da, na, ma, ra and va of the Umachal and Barganga inscriptions are fairly similar to those of the Allahabad inscription (of Samudragupta)" (Lahiri 1991, p. 59) "...Nidhanpur grant belongs to a later date having many elements from the so called western style of writing. This grant can be said to have been written in Kutila alphabets." (Verma 1976, p. 40) Joshi, Jagat Pati; Margabandhu, Chedarambattu; Sharma, Arun Kumar; Bisht, Ranvir Singh (2002). Puraratna: emerging trends in archaeology, art, anthropology, conservation, and history : in honour of Shri Jagat Pati Joshi, Volume 2. Agam Kala Prakashan. p. 430.
Les Langues Ecrites Du Monde: Releve Du Degre Et Des Modes D'Utilisation (1978), p.39
- Bhattacharya, Sureshchandra (1969). The Evolution of Script in Northeastern India from CAD 400 to 1200 with Special Reference to Bengal (PhD). University of London.
- Bora, Mahendra (1981). The Evolution of Assamese Script. Jorhat, Assam: Assam Sahitya Sabha.
- Goswami, Upendranath (1983). "The Assamese Script". Journal of the Assam Research Society. 27. Kamarupa Anusandhan Samiti.
- Lahiri, Nayanjot (1991). Pre-Ahom Assam: Studies in the Inscriptions of Assam between the Fifth and the Thirteenth Centuries AD. Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt Ltd.
- Salomon, Richard (1998). Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-535666-3.
- Verma, Thakur Prasad (1976). Development of Script in Ancient Kamrupa. Asam Sahitya Sabha.
